In
a meeting with Delaware Indian chiefs in 1779, George Washington commended them
for their request that their youth be trained in American schools. He assured
the chiefs that America would look upon them “as their own children” and then
said,
You do well to wish to learn our arts and our ways of life and
above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and
happier people than you are. Congress will do everything they can to assist you in this wise intention.
Washington’s
freedom in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with this Indian tribe was normal
for the founding generation for such freedom was rooted in the original
American vision. This original vision was brought here by the Jamestown
settlers of Virginia, the Pilgrims and Puritans of New England, the Baptists of
Rhode Island, the Quakers of Pennsylvania and other Christian reform groups who
were drawn to this land with a proactive vision burning in their hearts.
The
Original American Vision
Indeed,
the original American vision was for a land of individual liberty and a place from
which the Gospel would be spread to the ends of the earth. America’s Founders
were not shy in expressing this vision for they believed, that in this world,
real freedom could only be realized in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
This
link between freedom and the Gospel was expressed by America’s second
president, John Adams, just two weeks before the adoption of the Declaration of
Independence. In a letter to his cousin, Zabdiel, a minister of the Gospel, Adams wrote, “Statesmen, my dear sir,
may plan and speculate for Liberty, but it is Religion [Christianity] and
Morality alone, which can establish the Principles, upon which Freedom can
securely stand” (Hyatt, Pilgrims and
Patriots, 174).
Adams was not expressing anything new or
novel for the idea of freedom rooted in the Gospel of Christ was a common
American belief brought here by the very first European immigrants to this
land. Consider the following quotes.
“From these very shores the Gospel
shall go forth, not only to this New World, but to all the world.”
Rev.
Robert Hunt, April 29, 1607, as he and the Jamestown settlers, who had just
landed at Cape Henry, gathered in prayer around a large oak cross they had
brought from England.
“Having undertaken for the glory of
God and the advancement of the Christian faith . . . a voyage to plant the
first colony in northern Virginia.”
From
the Mayflower Compact, the governing document of the Pilgrims who formulated it
upon their arrival in the New World in November of 1620.
“Whereas we all came into these parts
of America with one and the same end and aim, namely to advance the kingdom of
our Lord Jesus Christ and enjoy the Liberties of the Gospel in purity and
peace.”
Opening
statement of the Articles of Confederation for ‘The United Colonies of New
England,” dated May 29, 1643. This confederation of New England towns and
colonies was formed for mutual security and to arbitrate land disputes among the
growing population.
“Might it not greatly facilitate the
introduction of pure religion among the heathen, if we could, by such a colony,
show them a better sample of Christians than they commonly see.”
Benjamin
Franklin in a 1756 letter to George Whitefield, the most famous preacher of the
Great Awakening, in which Franklin proposed that they partner together in
founding a Christian colony on the Ohio frontier.
“Pray
that the peaceful and glorious reign of our Divine Redeemer may be known
throughout the whole family of mankind.”
Samuel Adams, Founding Father and Governor of
Massachusetts. This call to prayer was part of a proclamation for a Day of
Prayer that he issued as Governor of MA in 1795.
“Pray
that all nations may bow to the scepter of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,
and that the whole earth may be filled with his glory.”
John Hancock, Founding Father, President of the
Continental Congress and Governor of Massachusetts. This statement was part of
a call for prayer he issued while Governor.
“The
policy of the bill is adverse to the diffusion of the light of Christianity.
The first wish of those who enjoy this precious gift ought to be that it may be
imparted to the whole race of mankind.”
James Madison, chief architect of the Constitution and
America’s fourth president, voicing his opposition in 1785 to a bill that he
perceived would have the unintended consequence of hindering the spread of the Gospel.
“The
philosophy of Jesus is the most sublime and benevolent code of morals ever
offered man. A more beautiful or precious morsel of ethics I have never seen.”
Thomas Jefferson, Author of the Declaration of
Independence and America’s third president, who took money from the federal
treasury to send missionaries to an American Indian tribe and to build them a
chapel in which to worship.
“Bless, O Lord, the whole race of mankind, and
let the world be filled with the knowledge of Thee and Thy Son, Jesus Christ.”
From
a public prayer prayed by George
Washington, America first president.
No Real Liberty Without the Gospel
It is obvious from the
above quotes that America’s Founders believed freedom and Christianity to be
inextricably linked. They believed so strongly in the Gospel as the basis of
human freedom that they unashamedly prayed and publicly expressed their desire
to see it spread throughout the earth.
Recent presidents have
sought to export American style democracy to other nations apart from the
Gospel of Christ. Indeed, the entire Western world is seeking to secularize
liberty and remove it from any association with faith.
America’s Founders would
say that such efforts are futile since true liberty cannot be had apart from
the Gospel of Christ. Washington made this plain in his Farewell Address where
he warned the fledgling nation that two things must be guarded if they were to
be a happy people—Christianity and morality, which he called “indispensable
supports” for political prosperity (Hyatt, Pilgrims
and Patriots, 169).
Recovering
the Truth About the First Amendment
The
day after approving the First Amendment, which states, “Congress shall make no
law concerning the establishment of religion or hindering the free exercise
thereof,” those same Founding Fathers issued a proclamation for a National Day
of Prayer.
The First Amendment was
merely their way of saying that America would never have an official, national
church like the nations of Europe at that time. Instead of banning faith from
the public square, as many moderns suppose, they created a free and open
marketplace for religious ideas.
They
were not concerned about false religion getting the upper hand in such an open setting
for they believed in the power of the Gospel and were convinced that on an open
and even playing field, truth would always prevail. They agreed with the
Puritan, John Milton, who wrote,
Let Truth and Falsehood
grapple; who ever knew truth put to the worse in free and open encounter? She
needs no policies, nor strategems, nor licensings to make her victorious . . . Give
her but room.
By instituting the First Amendment, the
Founders were rejecting the model begun by Constantine in which civil
government sets forth and defends a certain church, religious expression or
point of view. In their thinking, only those who do not have confidence in the
message they proclaim would insist on such an alignment with the civil
government.
The
Founders believed in the inherent power of Christian truth, which is why Jefferson wrote,
Truth can stand by itself … If
there be but one right religion and
Christianity that one, we should wish to see the nine hundred and ninety-nine
wandering sects gathered into the fold of truth. But against such a majority we
cannot effect this by force. Reason and persuasion are the only practicable instruments.
To make way for these, free inquiry must be indulged; and how can we wish
others to indulge it while we refuse it ourselves.
It
is Time to Recover the Vision
It
is time for this generation to rise up and reject the Lie of the Left that the
First Amendment bans expressions of faith in the marketplace. It is time to
realize with the Founders that true freedom and happiness can only be found in
Jesus Christ. It is time to learn from the Founders that faith and freedom go
together like hand and glove, and the loss of one inevitably leads to the loss
of the other. It is time for this generation to recover the original American vision.
This article is
derived from Eddie Hyatt’s book, Pilgrims
and Patriots, available from Amazon and his website, www.eddiehyatt.com. At his website, you can also check out his vision
for America and another Great Awakening.
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